Where can I find custom programmers?

[noblenull]

I have a small business idea, but will need a programmer to create a site for me from scratch (its not a shopping cart). Does anyone know of resources for finding reliable freelance programmers, besides getafreelancer.com? My budget is around $3k.

I'm specifically looking for someone experienced in the new web 2.0 technologies (ajax, ruby, etc).

[JPnyc]

dice.com or careerbuilder.com are both means of finding them. There are other such sites as well, such as itmoonlighter, and others as well. That's all I can recall offhand but a search will return many of em.

[noblenull]

Yeah, there are tons of websites that claim to offer this type of service. I was looking for a personal recommendation from someone that has had some success with one of these recruitment type sites.

[TipPro]

Local colleges are a great resource for programers that are willing to code on a low budget. I beleive that having a programmer you can sit down with is much better than discussing plans over the phone or email.

[Corey Bryant]

A few things to keep in mind though when doing this. If you say "I need XXX done" and someone gives you a quote, run away. No one can give you a quote on this. You need a scope of work so that the programmer understands fully what you want.

Like in the admin part, do you want the ability to suspend members - and if so, for how long? For members who are suspended, do you want a message? Do you want this message to be customized?

These are just some examples of course, but a scope of work can usually be ten page or more depending on the project.

There are some forums out there that cater to just Ruby / Ajax developers, you might take a look at some of those. I think International Webmaster Developer's Network also might have a few of them

[toniaxp]

You can also try scriptlance.com I have used them for almost a year now as both a programmer and a webmaster there are some good programers there.

[dragonusthei]

im one :P

[cubeshark]

There a number of places... getafreelencer.com
and maybe me... )

[business]

just try search engine and write "freelencer"

[Kman]

Check the developer list at some of the e-commerce application vendors.

[opensourceforce]

We've used sourcefuse for some of our larger custom projects.....but if you are looking at a smaller project and 1 time only the getafreelancer is not the wost place. The trick with the project pitch sites is finding the right one. Break the project into smaller parts. Bid out on one or two parts to test the new firm. Then if it works give them the rest or more. If not, then you are just out the cost of the smaller project part.

[SwedishGrad]

Is there a forum that actually rates or lists reviews of developers? We just worked with a company for 1.5 years and without a blink they went out of business and gave us no warning and NO ACCESS TO OUR FILES. We recovered everything and have found someone to support our ecommerse store, but i have reservations, as they were recommended by the out of business company.

[JPnyc]

Not that I'm aware of. There are places where you can go and have developers bid on your project but I dunno of any objective rating of developers.